he is a heartbeat away from the presidency. it is amazing to very few people have noticed that in the national liberal media. and bill said that vice president joe biden reminded me of the old saying, if you cannot with somethingth brilliance, called bs. thank you for being with us come have a great weekend. good night from new york. neil: after the debate, could someone, anyone, give these guys a clue? not a word about our fast sinking ship. december 31, it all comes crashing down. all of those bush tax cuts that expire, all of those automatic spending cuts, one was too busy smiling like he was trying to close a deal on a used chevy, and the other frantically writing notes -- i have no idea what that was about. another debate leaves me with no debate here.

forget who won and lost. i think ultimately we all are worse off. welcome, everybody come i am neil cavuto. we just found out today that we have another trillion dollar deficit the fourth year running. it could've been worse. we also found out that the federal government bailout program in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis was $24 billion. alas, that is down from $32 billion. by my count on both counts, we are still down for the count. crazy me. i want a lot of answers to all of these loony financial questions. how will we avoid this looming train looming train wreck? what we do to ease ourselves ck from this financial cliff? not a word on any of this from the vice president or the guy that wants to be vice president. no mention of the great

unmentionable and what could single-handedly trigger another recession. that is why tomorrow we want answers. allow me to break from all things convention and all things hot air and focus on omething that is pathetic. washington's ongoing difference to a calamity. it could cost millions of jobs and high taxes on millions of poor families. the issue isn't whether or not i think this is a big deal, my friends. it is why this late in the game neither party is talking about it. steve moore says the caulk is indeed taking. a three to $4 billion being added to the that everyday. get ready, this could be worse.

it was the birth of the mall? i don't think either is the fairest of them all. what do you think? >> i want to highlight something. despite all of these other clips that we are talking about, they're there are only really three questions. there is the defense and in cliff and the domestic sequester quick. but let's remember one other thing. there is a big cost ofoing nothing. you know, just allowed these deficits to go on through a trillion dollars a year. i happen to think that by far the most dangerous thing in terms of theimmediate future is to allow those tax rates go up. i agree with you. by the way, the congressional budget office, if we let those tax rates go up, starting on january 1, higher capital gains, dividends, business taxes, estate taxes go up, too, if, iff you believe it back to tumble into a double dip recession. and that would be extremely

painful. i don'think the spending cuts are that big of a problem, really. i actually think it is about time that we start cutting these programs across the board. >> actually agree with you on that car. first of all, you and i know that customs is a misnomer here. having said that, how do they avoid this, and what can they do? >> i do not believe that this

fiscal cliff will happen. i think members of both parties are going to blink and turn the sequester off. neil: you and i know that that was their backbone. their own plan is a mockery of the market and the will paint on that. >> you know that better than i do. neil: actually i do not, but that's what i think. >> by the way, it means that all of the hullabaloo, remember, two years ago, the debt ceiling -- until we get some of these ironclad cuts come i don't think those cuts a going to happen. neil: somebody think they do? do they extend everything for six months? i was hearing a lot of that before. >> they put it off and they put also more it off somewhere, and then they agree to something later. but how many times have we heard that? 1000 times in the last 20 years. but i think that the other

issue, obviously, is that tax quest. and that depends on the outcome of the election. if barack obama wins, he will then have a voter mandate let those rates go up. if mitt romney wins, i think he will turn the task with off, too. but you asked about thi. they saythey won't do title metaprograms from a can agree on tax reform. we are right back where we started three years ago he won all right, steve moore, thank you so much. >> i wish i had better solutions, but this is what happens in washington. [talking over each other] [talking over each other] neil: you can't say that i don't know. i always figured if i have to come and try not to do that. steve moore, always good to have you. i want to go to the former verizon wireless ceo who has been worried about this for a

lot of his corporate brethren. denny, they don't reach an accord, by december 31, then what happens remapped. >> let's take a look at this. he just said it. we have a masse tax increase, a repeal of the bush tax cuts, we have the social security tax that is reenacted for employees of 2%. we have the over trillion dollar spending issue. it is about 5% of our economy. neil: what you think the market is doing? >> i am very concerned about what the market is doing. when you look at stock prices today, the fiscal cff is not yet built. neil: they dot even see that as a possibility. the closer we get, the more they start getting antsy and. >> again, i'm very concerned about that. antsy for sure. and i don't think that we are going to get a solution to this thing, certainly before the end

of the year. neil: so you don't even buy the six-month extension think? >> when we can stop looking at this thing in bits and pieces. this is not what leaders d. leaders are decisive. neil: when it comes to the sequestration cuts that they agree to, they are trying to change the rules on that. >> i cannot disagree with you there, neil. but i would ask your audience to think back to when barack obama was running for president.

he ran as a uniter. he was going to make things happen, get things done. the fact of the matterris, it did not happen, he is the great divider at this point. neil: as ceo, someone who knows what it's like to sit down at a table and debated someone -- i don't know if you ever did so like the did last night, but do you think they can hammer out something that will leave both parties happy? because republicans will never budge on a tax increase for the upper income. and democrats they won't scale and growth of entitlement. so there we are. >> of course they can hammer out a deal. it takes negotiation. it takes leadership. neil: both sides argue that they are going to have a convergence after the election. because that is there, the heat is over, it is it's time to let the cooler heads prevail. >> you know what, that's

unfortunate, because we are on the brink of another recession here. and if weedon't resolve this fiscal cliff, that is exactly where we're going. >> it is also why we are not seeing the consumer spending we need to see. everybody says, how we resolve this? where we go with this? businesses and consumers are waiting to see what happened. neil: we have two months to hold our breath. that is a longtime. >> that is a long time. neil: thank you very much. all right, the mainstream media

might be telling you this is not a big problem. even the president and vice president at don't think it's a big problem. but we are talking about it. when it comes to laying it all out, we will. by the way, we have not taken our eye off the campaign. from 8:00 p.m. to midnight next tuesday, and the final one in boca raton. meanwhile, forget the smirks. the txpaying, the thing with the rich, i think joe bidn might have wandered off script. or was that joe sending a signal? this is sending the world a pretty bad signal. these guys just winning the nobel peace prize. not the writers, but the very system ogovernment that has no sponsor these writers.

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>> no family making less than $250,000 per year will see any form of tax increase to $250,000 or $250,000 a year. $250,000 a year. >> $250,000 a year. >> $250,000 a year. >> that was then, this is now. >> if your ticket is elected, who will pay more in taxes who will pay less. we are starting with vice president biden. >> the middle class will pay less and people making a million dollars or more will be done to contribute slightly more. >> we can't afford $800 billion

going to people making a minimum of a milon dollars. neil: wait a minute. the quarter of a million dollar threshold now turning into a million. what is exactly going on ther? the same people are going to get gouged or is he marketing it as going after the million and over crowd. what do you think? >> we don't know. let's not forget that already, about a dozen times, the obama administration has raised taxes on people making less than $250,000 per year. let's also remember that joe biden is a loose cannon. it looked like he had tourette's in the debate last night. so we have no idea whether biden was signaling someehing or whether he was, you know, if he was in his own private land. but we do know that some democrats on capitol hill have indicated that they don't want

the class warfare tactics to kick in at 200 or 250,000, so maybe, just maybe, by then was given instructions and carried them out and that sent a signal in the debate last night. my guess is that he was just being typical, loose cannon, lunchbucket joke. neil: here is where i disagree with you, even though you know what you're talking about and i don't. i think there was a strategy that is. if you look back at the records here, barack obama has avided taking a number with the so-called rich. he always says millionaires and millionaires and billionaires. it's been a long time since you mention the 250,000-dollar thing. along comes joe biden to say a million dollars. i still think, by the way, they are going after the 250,000 and over crowd. but maybe they are recalibrating mess. maybe they are setting the stage if they were to get reelected, and that could be a big if these

days, making that they're jumping point from this great train wreck. what do you think? >> as a prediction come i can't rely argue with that. let's say that obama wins the white house again and republicans hold on to the house of epresentatives. well, they are both going to say that we won. we don't have to give in. so maybe moving from 200,000 as a threshold for the class warfare tactics to 1 million could be a way to give obama a symbolic victory, albeit a symbolic one that at the same time allows republicans to claim that they got something out of the deal. who really knows? but keep in mind, when bill clinton first put in the millionaires surtax back in 1993, it wasn't a millionaire. it was right about the $350,000.11 level. we have always had this very strange definition of manipulation in washington. >> we have. the point i raised with dick

durbin last night, on whether there was a shift going on there, i want you to react to that. >> the position of the administration, which biden said, turning to paul ryan, why won't you at least let us preserve the middle class tax cuts for those making under $250,000. >> is a llion in new strategy now? >> there are several different illustrations. >> is not talking about the change of administration? >> i don't think so. >> i am not great at reading poker faces or the lack thereof. but maybe there is nothing sinist going on, but obviously they are not reading from the same choir book. >> again, i actually think that durbin said it right. joe biden could have simply have been using illustration part of his debate and didn't necessarily, especially if you are into the parsing of words, there was nothing in what biden said that committed the white house to a new approach. he was just using an example. this administration still is

dedicated to class warfare taxation, it is simply a question of where those higher tax rates kick in, how fast do we go down this path, driving up businesses and jobs. i think it's a bad idea. wherever you pick higher tax rates, the problem in america is that government is too big and that was what was very frustrating about the debate. that moderator never asked a question how big should government be? is it too big now? should we worry about america becoming another welfare state like greece or france or spain or italy? it was a very frustrating debate for those of us in the country who worry about the size and scope of the federal government. neil: it wasn't even an issue last night. dan mitchell, thank you so much. well, in 99-cent store on rodeo drive. enough said. enough said

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neil: all right, here's what you need to know about how dicey this recovery is. in 99-cent store may be coming to beverly hills. it is true. from the land of lost jobs, now rodeo drive is going discount. will this ever be the same? who should know better than someone else who is from there. from beverly hills. our very own liz claman. her blood is so blue, have to wonder whether lives is seeing red. >> i am with wearing red. >> no, no, that would be it. they were the downand out folks in beverly hills.

>> all i can tell you is if i hear one person, i've heard of thousands they that is redline. everyone loves a 99-cent store, but they have to, can you imagine, who knows where it's going to be. listen, i wouldn't think this would be good. [talking over each other] >> what happens to the full image of rodeo drive in beverly hills? not that there's anything wrong with it. >> what could be worse? what could be worse. that is every -- it is everywhere. there are a lot of storefronts that are empty right now. neil: no way that your old

family neighbors are welcoming and 99 cents store. >> you are so wrong. i called. [talking over each other] neil: the average -- >> here is why, the average is told of her own. eric schiffer, the ceo knows that i like them. he is the one that says there is a market for this. how do you think people got will wealthy? by being smart with their money. and it is a popular sport. will venture their. neil: wh asn't one beethere already? [laughter] neil: is there a wal-mart in beverly hills? okay, thank you. >> there used to be something called a bargain circuit, and everybody used to go from beverly hills to bargain circuit. it was the original 99 cents store. people love a deal. i don't care where you're from,.

neil: were you born in inglewood >> yes, i was. to what kind of stories the cell? >> i like to wash my hair with evian water. [laughter] neil: my father was the son of penniless immigrants from russia. my mother, her relatives were penniless immigrants from romania. 's the great american story. but now they are going back to the 99 cents? >> why not? whoever left it. we could probably see back in the day, there was a place where debbie reynolds walked in with the sunglasses on occasion. come on. neil: a domino's pizza? chicken wings?

>> no food chains. you have to go just outside of beverly hills. >> come on. this is so major. neil: i think you're trying to accept this, but i think you're having issues with it. >> i will be first in line. >> this is like $7 elsewhere. neil: it's 99 cents they are? >> just. [laughter] neil: liz claman,. >> happy to help out. neil: great to have you. >> i predict it will be a very popular store. save some money and spend the rest on the gucci purse. neil: when we come back, the nobel prize for democrats, they will single-handedly bring the

continent to its knees. they didn't quite frame it that way in scotland.

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afterwards and someone had the nerve to ask ask the chairman, wasn it a cheerleader for the european union? and he was upset by this comment. he was shocked. >> are they looking at the same video that we are looking at? >> wondering if they think of the $1.2 million prize is going to solve the debt crisis. maybe that's what it's all about to it is amazing. timing is everything. let's just say, the timingfor this is off, is not? >> well, i'm not sure of the criteria, but remember, the nobel peace prize also had yasir arafat in 1990 for winning the nobel peace prize and teddy roosevelt after he had already decided to invade colombia. they don't have exactly a great track record of criteria for the nobel peace prize. >> i want melissa to react to this. the eu president -- on what he

had to say about this. >> you what's strange about that guy come, he's not friends but he sounds french. but he's okay with it. >> in the next year he could get in, i don't know. >> at this point, it seems possible. i just wonder if maybe the committee wanted to keep the money and they thought they gave it to the european union, nobody would get upset over it. >> i didn't know that we attached a standard for providing an example, but that maybe that was his strategy.

>> you know, it is hard to figure. unless, well,it could be comedy. maybe it was for saturday nnght live -- i don't know. >> i was waiting to hear him say he was kidding. let's say that they are very serious about this, and clearly, they were and are serious abut this. >> they are, we checked this out >> what does that mean about where we go? obviously they are standing by at, even though it has been proven that the united states and europe don't cut it. then what? >> if you look at the countries, the nobel peace prize from the scandinavian countries, they may want to give them the nobel peace prize, but they certainly aren't joining the eu, it turns out it was a very good decision. this is something that was done

-- they gave him one based on what they hope that they will do. that is a politically motivated prize right now. the problem is the eu is disintegrating and it will probably become to eu is. i'm not sure who gets to keep his private long-term. >> in all seriousness, they have said that the eu has had a stabilizing effect on the continent. i don't know how you can look at pictures of greek protesters dressed as nazis to greet and the love to win of angela merkel. i'm not sure how that is a nobel peace prize committee and what they are thinking of. neil: go ahead, john. >> the frederick is something

you would hear years ago. you have some of them that are very upset, bringing up not see references. it is just terrible what is going on. you actually have germans i know trying to cut taxes because greece won't do it themselves. it is being exacerbated by now, i mean, this is something that is not sustainable. >> did they run out of other people? who got second and third-place? that's what i wanto know. neil: john, i hear the u.n mountain climbing in africa. it had something to do with me. could you explain? >> of course, raising money for a great group of kids that i work with. what a better inspiration. at 57 total miles.

you carried your picture with me, neil, you were at the top of africa with me. >> wow. neil: where is my prize and where is his? neil: jaundiced squirt some point. >> your picture was a lot less cold than i was on that mountain. because i was absolutely freezing. >> well, congratulations to you. thank you, johnthank and thank you, melissa. in the meantime, remember the president? well, last night, joe biden. think of this economy. it is nothing to smile or laugh about for many, nexium helps relieve

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neil: by now you have heard all the talk about the debate. joe biden smirking and laughing his way through it. wipe that smirk off your face, joe. there is nothing funny about what is going on with this recovery in the deep end that government. john, you say there are serious problems here. laughing about them, smirking about them doesn't help them either. >> no, thank y for having me backy the way, neil, and absolutely, this is not the time for anybody to be smiling frankly, if you look into the eyes of the average person across the nation, they are doing anything but smiling. and with good reason. you know, they are uncertain, they are frankly scared about what tomorrow will bring. we get taxed on regulation upon mandate, upon lawsuit, they have good reason to be doing anything but smiling. they would like to, but they are

terrified. >> maybe you could explain to me between -- for lack of a better word, average americans and their basses. avere americans depending on the survey are feeling a tad more confident. not a lot more, but a little bit. their bosses are not feeling that way so much. i always worry about that. because if i'm happy and my boss is not happy, then i'm not too happy. >> yes, that uncertainty continues to ripple out. we have done surveys. our weekly survey in september shows that optimism among small business owners continues to plummet. what we are finding the most is that. or just not ready to make hiring decisions. and they are looking at ways to scale back. that ripples out to the employee and consumer and it's just not a happy situation. so there may be some people in small areas with hope, but our

records are showing anything but that. they are just scared and frightened and uncertain. neil so what would it take to leave their fears? >> first of all, we need to stop the madness. one of the things i have said before on this show is that our elected officials need to listen to the people they were elected to represent. we are just not finding that in california or across the nation. we have to make sure that the tax rates and taxes are lower. make sure that regulations are reduced, and make sure that we are giving people some hope. just remember, small businesses on average pay about 37% more than regulatory compliance. about 18% more for health insurance. neil: to address this once and for all. when the vice president says hiking taxes at the end will affect 3% of businesses, there is another number that you rely upon as to how that translates. explain. >> well, i think what we find out is that any increase like

that is actually going to hurt some. les remember that small businesses create about 99.7% of all jobs. frankly, they are most of the businesses across the nation. >> in that top percentage, two or 3%, it is not the half of all hires, so we forget that. >> that is absolutely true. the other thing that folks in washington dc and here in california, governor brown in the legislature, tax rates and how they affect small businesses. the governor is trying to push a 50 billion-dollar tax increase on the november ballot. let's call it what it is. a mean streak tax on mom-and-pop. the $250,000 -- most of our folks file s individuals and not corporations. that will be hitting the small business owner. frankly, ultimately, the employee.

neil: great stuff. john, thank you very much. all right, lou says banks are lending? you always hear that no one is winning. we found two smaller banks that might

neil: we found two banks that didn't, and they are small and they are doing just fine. they are lending the spine. so there is the split betwee what we are told in the mainstream media about all things currently being evil. because the apparently did not go down the full letter here.

gentleman who have bot seen a pickup in lending and have been leading throughout what appeared to be a crisis because they didn't get caught up in the downdraft. bernard, to you first. explain your business and your lending standards. whether they changed at all. >> well, not really. we have a phrase that all of our employees know. we are aggressive on sales and conservative on risks. and we have operated under that philosophy from day one. so we have come on the small business site, we were the number one community bank in small business for three quarters in a row in june. we have double-digit loans are for the past were five, we have had 20% in the last two of the five years. lending is not an issue with this. neil: it is an issue with the

big banks. that correct? >> well, i think that the word bank can do a lot of scary. we are a community market in washington dc. we know our customers and we can respond to what they need. >> well, it is people that work for the government, professionals and people, and that is the main thing. neil: you are lending standards? i know that you don't have a variety of wacky products. you keep it pretty simple, right? >> that's right. >> i'msorry, what. neil: how much down to you require for a mortgage loan? >> 20%. it's revolutionary. neil: and how about you? >> i think we have the largest mortgage company in the metro area.

we have 20 or 30 products in different documents are required for each. our mortgages are presold. we pre-sell them, we do not -- some of them we hold in th bank, but most of them are sold. >> are you both noticing more interest on the part of consumers? are you seeing that? >> yes, we are. i think the demand is there. and it always has been there, of course, in washington. >> it is like people that go there -- they understand it's a bulletproof city. we are seeing the first, you know, the beginnings of a turnaround. >> we see that. in northern virginia, there is a good market, but you have to have the best people. we do believe that we have the best people. we have the best people in the market. also, it is thesmall towns away from washington.

those banks are being killed. so that is what worries me. as a banker, to see these banks, one by one fail, even though a lot of people think that they are being bailed out by the government, they are actually not being bailed out by the government. [talking over each other] the fdic pics of that. and kurt and i pay for that. >> were marred just made a great point. my insurance costs have tripled. i have been penalizd. >> what it does is not only enable us to serve our customers, it is absolutely terrible. neil: okay, gentlemen, thank you both very much. very hopeful. i think everyone is thinking big and maybe you should just think

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for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. neil: now back to the big

guys. four barack obama node time to stand and stare. for the president, he has to deal with a new madden romney. up until the last debate mitt romney had the secret weapon. no matter the bad economy the prince of profit to oversee it when he was the cardboard cutout and he reinforced the nagging doubts he was not human. to fire people, dismiss people and had no problem to leave his dog on the roof of his car. things are so bad for mitt romney to showing up was an

achievement. the white house did not knowledge the bitter economic numbers and is still not a good. until the debate. and tell mitt romney did not look so bad but seemed very smart, likable comment smarter than the flat footed president trying to respond to his challenger who did not show up in good dracula cape. image shattered. i cannot stress the magnitude of the presidential debate. it provided the price list bonanza and humanized him and allowed america to change course midstream. that is what change erase the villain was not